Read Lately…In Fantasy

April 27, 2011

Ever since 2011 rolled about, I’ve been devouring books like a beast. Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes apart from gaming and art, but in the recent months I’ve been going through books more ardently than usual because I’ve set a challenge for myself — to read 100 novels this year. Yeah, good luck to me!

Anyway, I’ve always admired other bloggers like Syp or Anjin for writing about the books they’ve read lately, and I realized it has been quite a while since I myself wrote a book post on this blog. The last time I considered writing one was late last year, for lack of a better explanation I changed my mind because I didn’t feel like I had enough good books to talk about. Ever since I set my reading challenge, however, there has been an abundance! I’ve been dying to talk about good books lately, and my favorite genre is fantasy, so I hope you won’t mind my sharing some of the better reads I’ve had so far this year:

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Second book in the Kingkiller Chronicle series and follow up to 1997’s The Name of the Wind. Admittedly, I didn’t get what all the fuss was about with these books until about a third of the way through WMF when I changed my attitude and finally stopped trying to make the book conform to my expectations of what should happen in a fantasy novel.

After that, following Kvothe around on his adventures became so much more enjoyable. We’ve all heard how he’s supposedly this badass hero who has done all these amazing things, but now he tells us the true story in his own words. Hopefully at some point, we’ll also get to find out how he came to wind up behind a bar as a simple innkeeper.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

A really cool book about a world where demons rise at sundown from the Core and terrorize the nights. Humanity hides in the shadows, and their only means of protection are their wards that shield their homes and make them impenetrable to the Corelings — but only if their ward symbols hold. As a fan of modern fantasy, I enjoyed this one a lot. It had a character-driven story and just the right amount of action to keep the momentum going. However, I did feel that the second book of this series The Desert Spear was a little weaker, but regardless The Warded Man was still well worth the read.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Weeks is probably better known for his Night Angel trilogy, but when I became curious about his work I decided to pick this one up instead. The book is about Gavin Guile, a powerful man attempting to complete five great purposes before his death in five years, meanwhile guarding a terrible secret that could unravel everything he has accomplished. Then there is Kyp, an orphan boy who suddenly finds himself a father figure in Gavin, and together they are drawn into a war that threatens to shatter their world.

Yeah, the story is kinda hard to explain. It was all right, but in the end it was the unique magic system that really made it memorable. Based on chromaturgy, some people in this world called “drafters” can harness light to create a substance called luxin which can take on different colors of their spectrum. Each color has unique properties, so drafters can construct many different things out of this substance. Interesting magic systems always stand out for me.

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Very rarely do I find a series, especially in a trilogy, where the later books actually outshine the first. I wasn’t sure I was going to like The First Law when I picked up the first installment The Blade Itself, but now I’m really glad I stuck with the series, reading Before They Are Hanged and finally Last Argument of Kings. I love being able to read an epic tale of war and magic, and yet still feel connected to amazingly well-developed characters that breathe and bleed.

And ugh, do they bleed. Joe A’s books are definitely not for the faint-hearted. I have a pretty strong stomach for violence and I don’t really consider myself squeamish, but even I cringed at some of the scenes of torture and bloody battle. The dark grittiness and cynicism in his books can sometimes be a little too much to take, and I had to give myself long breaks between the books instead of reading them back-to-back. I recently realized how tired I was of the dreariness after reading Best Served Cold, a sort of “spin-off” which takes place in the same world as The First Law books but stars a completely new character. Makes me think it will be a while before I’m ready to take on Abercrombie’s latest novel The Heroes.

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick

I gave this new author and his debut novel a try, and I don’t regret it one bit. His style may still lack a bit of polish, but in the end this book delivered a great story that was full of action and interesting twists and turns. Drothe is a “Nose”, which is like an informer for the underworld. I was immediately thrust into his world of intrigue and betrayal, and the action seriously doesn’t let up. Even though the beginning was a bit confusing, the end managed to come together and all the subplots tied up nicely.

I can see myself reading something by Douglas Hulick again. With more time and experience, I think he can deliver some amazing stories

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

I confess, I was never big on urban fantasy. To put it mildly, so much of it out there is just utter crap. But I’d heard so many good things about The Dresden Files from so many people, I felt like I was the last person on earth to read this series. I finally took the plunge and picked up the first book Storm Front earlier this year, and was pleasantly surprised with what I read. These books center around the life of Harry Dresden, a wizard who is also a private investigator looking into paranormal disturbances in modern-day Chicago, striking a fine balance between fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction.

I’m currently on book 5, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series because apparently these books just get better and better.

And speaking of Jim Butcher, I gave his Codex Alera series a try as well, but after reading Furies of Calderon, I think his Dresden stuff is clearly where his forte is.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

I loved this book. When asked to describe LoLL, I always say it’s like Oliver Twist meets Ocean’s 11 meets The Godfather. It’s fantasy, but also reads like a dark action-adventure thriller, with its tales of thievery, gang wars, subterfuge, and themes of vengeance. I fell in love with the Gentleman Bastards right from the start, which made some parts of the novel hard to take whenever unfortunate events befell them.

Anyway, a great start to what looks to be a very fun series. I currently have the second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies already on my to-read list.

Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan

Yeah, this is not your typical werewolf story. If you’re into Vikings and Norse mythology, and are sick of the usual paranormal romance stuff that passes for werewolf fiction these days, then this book is for you. Wolfsangel begins with a Viking raid on a small village, the leader a king who has seen in a prophecy that he was to kidnap a child to be his heir. But what he finds is not one but two infants — twin boys whose origins and fates are entwined with the gods. Vali grows up as a Viking prince, while his twin Feileg is raised in the wilds with wolves to be the protector of a witch.

At times, this book was difficult to follow, but all in all I was impressed by the story and the writing, which invoked some very powerful imagery. A hauntingly decent read, some parts being downright bone-chilling.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Just finished this book earlier this week, actually. A friend of mine who was not a fan of fantasy read it and ended up loving it, which made me curious to take a look.

It started off typically enough, a bastard son (my friend asked me why fantasy novels are always full of bastards…I honestly didn’t know what to say to that) of a prince is raised in the shadow of the royal court, secretly trained to be an assassin by the king. I found most of the novel rather average and predictable, until the end where the many plot twists and turns finally got me hooked. I was a little disappointed that the last chapters wrapped up so quickly, but luckily there is more to this trilogy so I can still follow more of Fitz’s adventures.

I am always on the look out for great books. Much of my to-read list is populated by fantasy, but I am open to all sorts of genres in fiction. So if you look at this list and can think of something you think I might enjoy, feel free to throw some recommendations my way!

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13 comments

I’ll have to read Hulick. He sounds most interesting to me. I read the Night’s Angel trilogy by Brent Weekes and found he started off strong and the middle book was quite bad, the third average. Abercrombie is not bad, but he got predictable and I found “The Heroes” quite bad, as the characters were again freaks, but not nearly as well done and entertaining as in the “First Law” trilogy. So you LoLLed and liked it. Hmm.🙂 I did not like the first novel that much, so I can almost guarantee you that Red Seas will blow you away, it was amazing and much better IMO. We already talked about the Warded Man, the third book will hopefully be better than the “Desert Spear”. I obviously did not like “The Wise Man’s Fear”, I did not find what people found fascinating about this book. IMO the first book was much better, I pretty much agree with sfreviews.net and his ratings. “The Lost Fleet: Dauntless” is the first novel of a quite good military scifi series, which apparently has appeal to female readers as well.

I thought Hulick’s Among Thieves was pretty good for a debut novel. It was interesting that he chose to write it in the first person perspective, which made it a little awkward at some points. But regardless, I think he’s a new author to watch.

I thought The Black Prism was okay, but I think I will still one day read the Night Angel trilogy.

I just can’t pick up The Heroes just yet, I still need time to let the memories of The First Law and Best Served Cold fade a little, or I’m afraid it will be like reading the same book😛

I’m looking forward to reading Red Seas because I’m curious now. It seems it can go both ways…some people liked it a lot more than LoLL, while I’ve seen others who say it is not as good.

I will take a look at The Lost Fleet, I’m always interested in books you have to suggest😀

You thought Desert Spear was a weaker effort than The Warded Man? I liked both books and am looking forward to the next installment… with almost as much anticipation as the next G.R.R. Martin book out in July.

Yeah, I liked The Warded Man better. I guess it didn’t help that the entire first third or so of The Desert Spear was about a character I disliked. Even if it was background into his life and his culture, getting through it took an effort on my part. I also didn’t like what the author did to Leesha. I felt she was acting more and more out of character, and she was distinctively different from the person I felt connected to right away in the first book.

I’m still anticipating the third book just as much as you though. Though I wasn’t so keen on the second book, I still love the overall story. And like I said, The Warded Man was a really good read.

Thanks for posting this! I prefer this style of book review – small summary roundups rather than one long post about one books. You’ve given me a few ideas to add to my reading list, so thanks.

As to recommendations, a couple of things. First off, keep going with Robin Hobb’s books. There are three particular series to check out and you’re meant to read them in order, those being The Farseer trilogy (the one you’re on now) –> Liveship Traders trilogy –> Tawny Man trilogy. The Liveship books are an optional aside and while they’re worth reading at some point, I read the Farseeer triology immediately followed by the Tawny Man trilogy and thought I did the right thing. The Tawny Man trilogy are now my favourite books.

Also, you might want to check out the Godless World books by Brian Ruckley. Traditional fantasy with a fair amount of blood and gore, but I’m finding them to be a decent read.

Every time I go into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Section of a bookstore, I end up thinking, ” I should writing my own story, not reading someone else’s.” O.o I did write some on the way home from MD, but then I forgot my notebook on the plane. X{

And ugh, that sucks about the notebook. I have one writing notebook that has been with me for more than 10 years and is full of notes and pages about story ideas, and some of it is rather personal. I’d freak if I lost it somewhere. I hope it’s not like that for you😦

Aw, man. That’s terrible. I had a similar situation happen to me, was typing a really long thang’ and one day the PC didn’t want to turn on. And the last time I made a back-up save of a zip disk was like… a month prior.

Luckily I was able to buy a thing to still access the data off the HD, but man, that was a couple rage-filled months till I accessed it. Let that be a lesson to back up whatever stuffs you wanna keep if something goes wrong! In fact, I should probably do that today. (Glad I ‘learned’ from my mistake😄 Took typing about it to remind me to do it haha)

I’ve only read a few of those and was disappointed by most of them. My wive really loves Jim Butcher’s books, but I couldn’t get past the second book. And then I had to fight through Assassin’s Apprentice to finish it. It is such boilerplate fantasy that I knew how the trilogy would play out by the time I got to the end of the book.